5 presidents on hand for Bush Center dedication

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Bush teary-eyed at library unveiling

Story highlights

Former Presidents Carter and Clinton praise Bush for his initiatives in Africa

Bush says the country's greatest days lie ahead

The George W. Bush Presidential Center is dedicated

Bush tells CNN he is aware it will rekindle debates about his legacy

Some may disagree whether George W. Bush was a "uniter, not a divider," as he liked to say, but he did get all five living presidents together for the dedication of his presidential library.

At Thursday's event in Dallas, Democratic former Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton praised Bush for his initiatives in Africa, and Bush defended his record.

"The political winds blow left and right, polls rise and fall, supporters come and go, but in the end, leaders are defined by the convictions they hold," Bush said at the ceremony for the George W. Bush Presidential Center. "My deepest conviction, the guiding principle of the administration, is that the United States of America must strive to expand the reach of freedom."

Bush has said he is aware that the opening of his presidential library would reopen debates over the Iraq War and the policies he pursued after the September 11 terrorist attacks. History will show, he said at the dedication, that he always stuck by his convictions.

"A free society thrives when neighbors help neighbors and the strong protect the weak and public policies promote private compassion," Bush said. "As president, I tried to act on these principles every day. It wasn't always easy and certainly wasn't always popular ... but when future generations come to this library to study this administration, they're going to find out that we stayed true to our convictions."

Carter told a story of how he asked, on Bush's inauguration day, for a meeting to talk about a civil war in Sudan that was entering its second decade. Bush kept his word and acted, Carter said.

"In January of 2005, there was a peace treaty between north and south Sudan that ended a war that had been going on for 20 years," Carter said. "George W. Bush is responsible for that."

Photos: The Presidents club 7 photos

Photos: The Presidents club7 photos

The Presidents club – President Barack Obama and former presidents George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush and Jimmy Carter arrive on stage for the George W. Bush Presidential Center dedication ceremony in Dallas, on April 25. Only a few times in history have three or more American presidents been photographed together. Click through to see some of those historic moments.

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The Presidents club – Presidents George H. W. Bush, left, Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter pose for a photograph in the Oval Office on January 7, 2009.

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The Presidents club – George W. Bush, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter appeared together during the opening ceremony of the Clinton Presidential Library on November 18, 2004, in Little Rock, Arkansas.

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The Presidents club – Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush, Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford all attended the funeral of President Richard Nixon in Yorba Linda, California, on April 27, 1994.

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Time lapse of Bush library construction

The George W. Bush Presidential Center – First lady Michelle Obama, President Barack Obama, former first lady Barbara Bush, former President George H.W. Bush and former President George W. Bush attend the opening ceremony of the George W. Bush Presidential Center on Thursday, April 25, 2013 in Dallas. Republicans and Democrats alike and world leaders were in attendance during the official dedication of the facility.

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The George W. Bush Presidential Center – Former President George W. Bush holds back tears as he finishes his speech.

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The George W. Bush Presidential Center – Former president George W. Bush, center, speaks to the crowd at the opening ceremony of the George W. Bush Presidential Center, flanked, left to right, by first lady Michelle Obama, President Barack Obama, former first lady Barbara Bush, former President George H.W. Bush, former first lady Laura Bush, former President Bill Clinton, former first lady Hillary Clinton, former President Jimmy Carter and former first lady Rosalynn Carter.

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The George W. Bush Presidential Center – George W. Bush gestures a "W" to the crowd after speaking.

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The George W. Bush Presidential Center – George W. Bush hugs his wife Laura after speaking.

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The George W. Bush Presidential Center – Left to right: Former President Bill Clinton, former first lady Hillary Clinton, former President Jimmy Carter and former first lady Rosalynn Carter listen during the opening ceremony.

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The George W. Bush Presidential Center – Former President George W. Bush and former first lady Laura Bush laugh during former President Bill Clinton's speech.

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The George W. Bush Presidential Center – President Obama speaks with former first lady Barbara Bush during the ceremony.

The George W. Bush Presidential Center – Left to right: former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, former Vice President Dick Cheney, Jenna Bush Hager, her husband Henry Hager, Barbara Bush, Miky Febrega, and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush sing the national anthem at the ceremony.

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The George W. Bush Presidential Center – President Barack Obama and former presidents George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush and Jimmy Carter arrive on stage for the George W. Bush Presidential Center dedication ceremony.

The George W. Bush Presidential Center – Boots commemorate George W. Bush's tenure as general managing partner of the Texas Rangers.

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The George W. Bush Presidential Center – Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete presented this lion, here presented at the library, to George W. Bush during his trip to Africa in 2008.

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The George W. Bush Presidential Center – A pistol captured with Saddam Hussein on December, 13, 2003, is displayed at the Center.

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The George W. Bush Presidential Center – This display relates to the Bush administration's faith-based and community initiative.

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The George W. Bush Presidential Center – A security guard stands in front of the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum, part of the George W. Bush Presidential Center on the Southern Methodist University campus in Dallas, on Tuesday, April 16.

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The George W. Bush Presidential Center – Steel beams from the World Trade Center are displayed in the September 11 portion of the George W. Bush Presidential Center on Wednesday, April 24.

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The George W. Bush Presidential Center – Patricia Flynn shows off the interactive table of conflicts in the Middle East.

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The George W. Bush Presidential Center – Former first lady Laura Bush and Alan Lowe, director of the George W. Bush Presidential Library, arrive to speak to media during a tour of the center.

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The George W. Bush Presidential Center – A photographer makes a photo of the two bronze statues of former Presidents George W. Bush and his father, George H.W. Bush, in a courtyard at the Center.

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The George W. Bush Presidential Center – Members of the media shoot video inside a recreated White House Oval Office during a tour of the George W. Bush Presidential Center.

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The George W. Bush Presidential Center – President George W. Bush's baseball collection is on display in the center.

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The George W. Bush Presidential Center – The entrance to the museum as seen on April 24, the day before its dedication.

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The George W. Bush Presidential Center – President Bush's and first lady Laura Bush's jackets for Air Force One are on display.

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The George W. Bush Presidential Center – The center features an exhibit on educational policy.

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EXPAND GALLERY

The last time the five living presidents were together was right before President Obama took office. It is a rare and special occurrence when the five gather, Obama said.

"This is a Texas-sized party," Obama said. "When all the former living presidents are all together, it is a special day for our democracy."

The presidents on the stage definitely differed on many policy matters, but they all share one quality, Obama said: They did what they believe is right.

"That's what President George W. Bush chose to do," Obama said.

Bush became a little emotional as he closed his speech: "Whatever challenges come before us, I will always believe our nation's best days lie ahead."

The center's library and museum take visitors through the turning points of Bush's two terms. The first exhibits recall the 43rd president's initial priorities on education, faith-based community initiatives and tax cuts. And they show how the September 11 terrorist attacks changed everything.

At one exhibit, the bright red dress that first lady Laura Bush wore to her husband's first state dinner, just six days before 9/11, stands in contrast to the next, most talked-about artifact in the museum: the twisted hulk of two beams from the World Trade Center.

In an interview with CNN's John King, the former president said he knows that the center's dedication will rekindle the debate about his presidency, and he conceded the library is in part an effort by him and supporters to influence history's verdict.

But he predicted visitors would find it "more objective" than they might have imagined, and he showed little interest in revisiting flashpoints like Iraq, Hurricane Katrina or the 2008 financial crisis, or the scorn with which many look back at the Bush presidency.

George W. Bush's life, legacy – A young George W. Bush with, from left, his mother, Barbara Bush; father, George H.W. Bush; and grandparents, Dorothy and Prescott Bush, in Midland, Texas, on March 7, 1949.

George W. Bush's life, legacy – George W. Bush with his father George H.W. Bush and mother Barbara Bush in Rye, New York, during the summer of 1955.

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George W. Bush's life, legacy – George H.W. Bush with his four sons, from left, Neil, Jeb, George W. and Marvin in 1970

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George W. Bush's life, legacy – George W. Bush sits in the cockpit of an F-102 fighter. Bush served in the Texas Air National Guard from 1968 to 1973.

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George W. Bush's life, legacy – George W. Bush stands next to his fighter jet while serving in the Texas Air National Guard.

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George W. Bush's life, legacy – George W. Bush campaigns for Congress with his wife Laura in 1978.

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George W. Bush's life, legacy – George W. Bush holds his twin daughters Barbara and Jenna in Dallas in November 1981.

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George W. Bush's life, legacy – Then-President George H.W. Bush with sons George W. and Jeb, right, boating off Kennebunkport, Maine, in 1989.

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George W. Bush's life, legacy – George H.W. Bush and Barbara Bush pose with their family for their 2000 Christmas portrait.

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George W. Bush's life, legacy – George W. Bush campaigns during an all-day swing through Florida two days before Election Day in 2000.

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George W. Bush's life, legacy – Bush is informed by then-White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card of the September 11, 2001, attacks while visiting a school in Sarasota, Florida.

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George W. Bush's life, legacy – George W. Bush speaks to rescue workers, firefighters and police officers at the rubble of ground zero three days after the September 11, 2001, attacks.

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George W. Bush's life, legacy – George W. Bush tells the nation on March 19, 2003, that U.S. forces had struck "targets of opportunity" in Iraq to begin the Iraq War.

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George W. Bush's life, legacy – George W. Bush announces on May 1, 2003, that "major combat operations" had ended in Iraq. He made the announcement aboard the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, which he had landed on in a Navy jet.

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George W. Bush's life, legacy – George W. Bush drives his pickup truck at his ranch in Crawford, Texas, in August 2002.

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George W. Bush's life, legacy – George W. Bush surveys Hurricane Katrina damage through the window of Air Force One as it flies over New Orleans, Louisiana, on August 31, 2005.

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George W. Bush's life, legacy – George W. Bush shakes hands with then-Sen. Joe Biden after signing the United States Global Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Reauthorization Act in July 2008.

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George W. Bush's life, legacy – Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki tries to block shoes thrown by an Iraqi man at George W. Bush during a joint news conference in Baghdad in December 2008.

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George W. Bush's life, legacy – George W. Bush looks out over Washington as his helicopter departs for Andrews Air Force Base after the inauguration ceremonies for President Barack Obama in January 2009.

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EXPAND GALLERY

"I know this: that Laura and I gave the presidency eight years of our life. We gave it our all. Made the best judgment calls I could. I didn't compromise my principles. And I'm a content man. And I am excited about what we're going to do here."

As the son of another former president, Bush said he wouldn't mind seeing his brother Jeb Bush run for the highest office.

If he could make the decision for Jeb, he would tell him to run for president, Bush said.

But in an interview Thursday on NBC's "Today," former first lady Barbara Bush said that while Jeb Bush is able to do the job, she would like to see other families in the White House.

"There are other people out there that are very qualified, and we've had enough Bushes," she said.

In addition to the library and museum, the Presidential Center includes the George W. Bush Institute, a public policy institute.